{Kerala} П {Sri Lanka} П {Pondicherry} = GOA

Goa – the land of beaches, the land of undying fun, and the list goes on. But the thing which stood out to my eyes in Goa which I guess was beyond the obvious as am yet to find it in any of the write-ups on Goa (or probably because it just appealed to me – but then what the heck this is my space and I deserve the applaud) is the disciplined roads. When I say disciplined, I mean that they are well laid without any pot holes (at least on the stretches that we covered) and fun to drive on. But then more about that later…

Let me cut the usual story on why we decided on Goa (guess, it’s become a trademark way to begin all my writings and its time for some change) – so lets just assume that it had to be Goa and get going. We had decided to put tent at the Club Mahindra resort (some class, eh?) at Varca beach in South Goa. We had decided to get ourselves a re-tyre by forgetting our present boring lives for exactly 4 nights and 5 days.

The resort was a class of its own – the room that we were put up in was kinda old and didn’t match or expectation, but then it didn’t spoil our holiday mood or plans. We checked into the resort on a Friday morning and without wasting any precious moments hit the breakfast counter and then decided to explore the beach. The beach being a private one prevents the glare of the locals and hence attracted only the classy guys from the resort. We had a great time lapping & playing in the water; partially due to Sangz’s prodding and persuasion (as frankly I don’t fancy the water so much). We were in Goa during the monsoon season which is quite a lean period and free from the usual family crowd measuring hubby, biwi, bacha and bachi (and sometimes even granny and grandpa) – the perfect setting for the young couples such as us (young – underlined). The monsoon is quite funny in Goa where you get rains for about ten minutes and then its all bright and sunny for the next hour or so. Also the rains when they begin, feel soft and nice but after a point they turn into sharp needles trying to open up every skin pore available, especially if you are next to the beach. Thankfully on that day we were blessed with the first kind (guess, because of low winds) but then as the days progressed we were never blessed with that privilege.

We decided to chill at the resort on the first day – frankly the resort has lots to offer in terms of recreation. There’s a kids zone to start with where the highlight is the giant chess pawns and which promises to take care of your kids while you chill (frankly I think it’s a nice way to make you realise the pleasures of life minus kids), then there’s a colour factory (my favourite) where you can learn pottery and painting on ceramic stuff – tried my hand in designing a clock on a ceramic plate with my community logo and must say did a decent job (won the accolades from Sangz and that is testimony enough). Then there’s the usual stuff for indoor playing (like TT, carom, billiards, etc) but the highlight of the resort is the twin swimming pools and the gym cum spa, all of which I failed to try because (a) I don’t know how to swim, (b) the spa was expensive, and (c) who hits the gym when you are on a holiday?

Ok – enough of the resort, day 2 was dedicated to some exploring. We hitched a taxi for a day long sight seeing of some places that we had checked out on the web prior to leaving for Goa. One thing to highlight here is that the taxis are quite expensive (especially the ones outside the resort and this isin’t true only of Club Mahindra resort), partially due to some consensus reached by the driver’s union (which seems to be quite an influential one in Goa). The private taxis usually charge anything up to 1600 rupees for the first 6 hours and then an additional 100 rupees for every hour after that. Also in case of a night travel (after 7pm) they tend to charge extra. The cheap ones are the pre-paid taxis (the usual black and yellow ones) but then they don’t seem that functional in Goa except for transfers from airport or railway station. We also had the option to take the day long tour buses from Margaon (priced between 200 to 300 rupees per head) but then we had some problems in making advance reservations on them.

Goa (as you must have read quite often) is divided into two parts – north and south. While Panaji (or Panjim) is the centre for north, it is Margaon (40 kms from Panaji) for the south. Most of the trains towards Panaji pass through Margaon (believe its an important station on the Konkan Railways route) and the state airport is also mid way between Panaji and Margaon , thereby benefiting both sides. While North Goa is famous for its beaches, its in the south where most of the inland tourist attractions lie. Our itinerary was a potpourri of temples, churches, river cruise, forts and we managed to cover all of them during the day to our satisfaction.

We started out from Varca around 10am – the first stop was at Margaon (about 20 mins) famous for its Church of Holy Spirit (found this to be closed due to some strike). One would also hit upon the Nehru International cricket stadium and the Pepsi Bottling Company (how dumb!!) at Fatorda, about 10mins away from Margaon on the road to Panjim.

On the way from Margaon, we stopped by three temples, the Santha Durga temple at Ponde (so named as Durga is said to have mediated in a dispute between her hubby Shiva and Lord Vishnu, having established peace between the two she acquired this somewhat paradoxical title), the Sri Mangesh temple (temple of Lord Shiva – also famous as it resides in the native place of the Mangeskar sisters and the temple land is supposed to be donated by their daddy, the late Sri Deenanath Mangeshkar) and finally the Sri Mahalsa temple at Mandol (which is famous for the 35 feet deepdan). To be quite honest, we didn’t find any difference between the three – the temple layout comprising of the usual temple tank, a tower outside the temple entrance (much like the Leaning tower) and identical interiors. The only difference apart from the presiding deities was the colour schema chosen to paint the temples – they appeared quite funky for a temple.

Our next halt was at Old Goa (the state capital prior to Panjim) which houses the famous Basilica of Born Jesus which has been declared as a world heritage monument as the church houses the sacred relics of St. Francis Xavier of Assisi (the body still appears to be free of decay and this miraculous phenomenon continues to attract Lakhs of pilgrims). The church looks quite old (but impressive though) and think it’s high time that the government look at doing a renovation, given its title of world heritage monument.

All the above sites fall on the 40 km stretch between Margaon and Panjim with minimal deviation. We next entered the state capital which if I may describe in one word is simply “picturesque”. The city (which is the smallest capital city in India) is situated on the banks of the Mandovi temple offers a breath-taking view of the river-side activities upon your entry. There are these two huge bridges connecting the city to the Mumbai highway which have been built over the Mandovi and offer the visitor a sneak peep into what the city has to offer. On one side (which is the opposite to Panjim) of the Mandovi is situated the fishermen colony characterised by their neatly docked fishing boats and on the other (happening) side is where all the city buzz is. Besides the river side restaurants (Noah’s Ark is supposed to be famous made on a boat), the cruise liners and the privately owned speed boats, the main attraction is the river cruise which opens up after 6:15 in the evening and priced at 150 rupees per head. This comprises of an hour river tour all the way to the mouth of the sea offering a river bank view of the city. The cruise is on a triple decker boat complete with snack stalls, an in house DJ to keep the crowd on their feet with loads of local music mixed with foot tapping bollywood numbers and an open area to experience the sights and smells of the city, uninterrupted (also ideal for some photo shoots). As darkness sets in the city lights come on and it’s quite a treat for the eye.

The city by itself is quite disciplined in its layout spread into square blocks similar to what you would find either in Pondicherry or more significantly at Kandy in Sri Lanka (now you know the relevance of the title). On the eat-out front we found a Dominoes (sorry, no Pizza Hut or Corner), a Kamath (exclusive for the strict veggies and this is where we incidentally ate) in the central square besides the others. The roads leading to the central block is also adequately populated with shops selling authentic Goa stuff – but then we didn’t find anything that could be christened as authentic Goan for us to take back home. Found the usual shell jewellery (characteristic of any coastal town), show pieces, etc but then there is this option for the daring few to splurge into buying the traditional Goan shirt rich with the vibrancy of Goa with flowery designs, splashed with bright shades of fluorescent orange cum green and with the words GOA smitten in blazing gold - I however decided to play it safe. But then shouldn’t forget to mention that dry fruits are very famous here. Almost every third shop that we ran into was filled with displays of cashews, almonds, dates, etc and seemed quite popular even amongst the locals.

We found a couple of uniquely designed carts serving cold drinks in a special manner – with ice and chat powder on the road side. Also we ran into this building or mall called Akbarally’s which had its corner doused with a mixture of bright colours blending with the colours of Goa – both of which won my fascination and prized “clicks”.

Post lunch & some shopping and prior to taking the river cruise, decided to visit one last spot which is about 12 kms from Panjim. Fort Aguada (portugese word for Water filler) which was built in 1612 to serve as a water refill stop for the ships in those days is situated near Candolim beach. The fort is also famous for its old light house which offers a breath taking view of the sea and which is open for public visits between 4 and 5:30 pm. The fort which is mostly made of black stone (I think) has also increased its popularity with the tourists as this is where some of the scenes of the all time hit movie Dil Chahta Hain were shot.

There were also a couple of other places that we wanted to visit which included the Dudh Sagar water falls situated near the Goa – Karnataka border as well as have a taste of the famous hinterland which is supposed to offer an unrestricted view of the forests and mountains at their best to a traveller. Fortunately we were able to see these during the return rail ride from Goa. The hinterland is simply awesome and one would always wish that the vast expanse of unspoilt and untouched nature never ends. I would like to strongly recommend to all to make a travel to Goa (at least one way) by rail (2nd Sleeper – non a/c) as this is a must see. One would also get a brief glance of the Dudh Sagar waterfalls and which goes away as soon as it comes. So all you fellow nature lovers, do ensure that you have your cameras ready for clicking during the 45 minutes stretch of the Braghanza ghat section between Kulem and Castle Rock.

All in all had a fun time despite the monsoon and by the time we got up upon our arrival at Pune after the overnight train ride from Goa, we had already marked this as a “must do it once more” holiday destination. Wish the same for you as well.